Chapter 29
The alarm went off right on time. Horatio got up and gathered his suit together. He then also gathered a pair of dress socks, a pair of boxers, and a t-shirt, as well as his gun, badge, and ID and put all of the items into his duffle bag, along with his swim trunks and a plastic zip-lock bag. He then grabbed another pair of boxers, sweatpants, gym socks and a t-shirt, and went into the bathroom for a shower.
Horatio came out several minutes later fully dressed. He pulled a baseball style jacket out of his closet and took his jacket and duffle bag out to the Hummer. He drove to the apartment building and took a minute to look at his watch. He smiled. The time was 6:15 AM. He went inside and, on his way to the elevator, waved to the Security Officer, then made his way to the elevator. He got off on the correct floor and walked down the hall. He knocked on the door and, after a moment, the door opened and Jessica looked out.
"Oh, hey, Horatio. Good morning." She opened the door and invited him in. "Please come in. I'll be ready in a couple of minutes."
"That's fine, Jessica. Take your time. I know I'm a little early."
Jessica turned to go back down the hall as she told him. "Make yourself at home. There's a fresh pot of coffee on, if you want some."
"That sounds like a good idea." He told her as he moved into the kitchen.
When Jessica came down the hall, she asked Horatio. "How are you, this morning?" Jessica walked back into the dining room, and stopped. "Wow." She breathed.
Horatio looked up, puzzled at the sound of surprise in her voice. "What?"
She blinked in surprise for a moment. "I'm sorry, Horatio, but you look so different out of your suits that it's just taking a minute to get used to it."
Although he nodded, Jessica could also see the embarrassed grin that said he himself was not completely used to being seen out of his suits. He chuckled softly, as she went into the kitchen for her own cup of coffee. She sat down at the table next to him.
Horatio looked up from his coffee cup. "When you had made the arrangements for the house to be renovated, had you made any decisions at that point about if the floor plan was going to be different, and if so, how?"
Jessica looked at him puzzled, for a moment, then replied. "Before they started the construction, an architect did, in fact, have to redesign the floor plan because of the doors, doorways, and hallways. We were also going to put an elevator in the house because it was a two story house."
Horatio nodded. "Were you also introduced to the architect by this friend of your husband?"
"You mean Stanley Miller?" She asked.
Horatio nodded.
Jessica replied. "Yes, I was."
"What was the name of the architect firm?"
Jessica grabbed her purse. "Hold on. I have their card here somewhere."
"Ok." Horatio watched her search for a moment, then she handed him a card from her wallet. He looked at the card. Luckily it wasn't Craig's, but Horatio had recognized it, for the potential problem it could be.
The company had been part of an investigation, but due to lack of evidence, the team had been forced to let that part of the investigation fall by the wayside.
Horatio looked from the card, up to Jessica. "May I keep this for awhile?"
She nodded. "Sure, for however long you need it."
"Ok." He put the card in his wallet. "Do you have anything more to gather for Stevie?"
She looked into the living room. "The only thing I think we have left is his clothes and, if you don't mind, I'm going to ask if you'd be willing to do that part. Most boys, at that age, don't like for Mom to be digging through their dressers."
Horatio chuckled. "This is true. Does he have a duffle bag or a suitcase?"
"He has a duffle bag. I'll go get it." Jessica got up from the table and disappeared into the apartment. She returned after a couple of minutes with the duffle in hand. "Here it is."
"Ok." He took the bag from her. "What should I get for him?"
She thought about it for a minute, then shrugged. "I would be inclined to say 2 or 3 pair of lounge pants, 4 or 5 t-shirts, 4 or 5 pairs of boxers….." She slowly trailed off.
He grinned. "Why don't you come with me. He won't know, and I won't tell."
Jessica nodded and, together, they walked into Stevie's room. They gathered his clothes and put them into the duffle bag, then they also pulled pants and shirts from the closet and put them into a suit-carrier.
They brought both into the living room. Jessica very quickly checked that everything else was turned off, then they picked everything up and went out the door and down the hall, to the elevator.
Horatio and Jessica made their way out the door and out to the Hummer. Horatio drove them to the Hospital and pulled into the parking lot, just as Alexx and Calleigh pulled up around him. They helped to carry everything up to Stevie's room.
The youngster chuckled. "Sorry about that, gang. I didn't mean to make it seem like I was moving in here."
The adults also chuckled.
"No worries, Stevie." Horatio told him. He winked as he added. "Besides, you can help carry it out."
Stevie nodded, with a grin. "Sure."
The daytime nurse, a young woman with sandy blonde hair came into the room. "Hey, there, Stevie. How are things going today?"
"Hey, there, Andi. Did Dr. Fitz tell you that we're doing the cleansing this morning?"
She nodded. "He told me. In fact he asked me to see if you wanted a pain killer?"
The boy instantly shook his head. "No thank you, Andi. I want to see what it's going to be like, first. Besides, I'm not going to feel a lot of it."
She nodded again. "I didn't think you would, but I wanted to offer."
Horatio chuckled, in agreement.
"Oh, yeah, Andi. This is my new friend, H." Stevie looked up at the red head, before turning back to the young woman. "Actually Lt Horatio Caine, with the Miami Dade Police." Stevie made the introductions. "I asked Dr Fitz to note my chart, but I don't know if he did. Lt Caine gets full access to all of my records, just like my Mom or even Aunt Calleigh."
The two adults exchange acknowledgements. "That's fine, Stevie. I'll double-check your records and I'll also pass the word to the other Nurses on Staff. Ok?" "That'd be great, Andi, thank you." Stevie told her."Yes, please, ma'am." Horatio added.
Calleigh and Alexx trade an amused grin. The red head's well known manners had come out.
Andi chuckled. "That's not a problem, gentlemen. In the meantime, Stevie, Dr Fitzgerald said something about that we needed to take out your I.V., as well as something about getting you into your swim trunks."
Stevie blushed slightly. "I'm going to let you pull out the I. V., Andi, and please, don't take this wrong, but if you and H don't mind, I'm going to ask for his help to change into my swim trunks."
The adults laughed as Stevie turned a light shade of pink, and ducked his head.
"Stevie, this is different. I'm a Nurse." Andi gently reminded him, as she removed the I.V. from the back of his hand.
The boy's tone changed. "I know you're a Nurse, Andi, but you're not seeing me in my birthday suit. End of discussion."
The adults continued to chuckle. "Ok, Stevie. If you need any help, just let me know." Andi told them.
"I think we have it handled, ma'am, but thank you anyway." Horatio told her.
Once Andi left the room, Stevie turned to the women in the room. "Ladies, if you don't mind, would you please step out for a few minutes?" Before any of them could argue, Stevie told them. "I know that it's part of your jobs, and Mom, I know you've seen me in my birthday suit before, but not with me awake, so I can die of embarrassment."
The adults laugh softly."I know what you mean, Stevie." Horatio told him. "I've nearly died of embarrassment a time or two, when Dr Alexx has had to treat me for various injuries over the years."
Alexx added her two cents worth. "One time it was very important that we had to, Stevie, and he still turned almost as red as his hair."Jessica and Calleigh shared a smile from their place near the door.Stevie and Alexx also shared a knowing smile, as, sure enough, Horatio ducked his head, attempting to get away from the attention.
"What happened, Dr. Alexx?" Stevie asked.
"Well." Alexx looked over at Horatio for just a moment. He nodded, and Alexx turned back to the youngster. "This happened quite some time ago, Stevie. The team was at work on a crime scene and a witness that later turned out to be one of the bad guys made a run for it. Horatio chased after him and caught up with him in a park. While they were fighting, a bee flew into the dress shirt that Horatio was wearing, and stung him……"
Horatio took the story over. "I never knew it, but apparently, I'm allergic to bees and when I lost consciousness, and my heart started beating way too fast, Alexx said that it was necessary to find out what had happened. She was right of course. There again, I didn't know I was allergic to bees, so it helped that way, but it was still embarrassing to wake up in the Emergency Room with no shirt or jacket on, feeling like I'd been knocked over with a piano."
Stevie chuckled. "You were probably wanting a deep, dark, black hole, weren't you, H?"
Horatio also chuckled. "You better believe it."
"Where did the bee get you, H?" The youngster asked.
"Would you believe, he got me in the side, up here just under my arm?" He lifted his left arm and pointed with his right.
"Whoa." Stevie breathed. "That's awful close to your heart, H. No wonder all that happened."
"It still would have happened, even if the bee had stung him on the bottom of his foot, Stevie." Alexx explained.
"Oh, ok." The youngster replied. "Let's get me changed and we can get his show on the road."
Alexx traded looks with Horatio. As she moved toward the door, she replied. "Ok, Stevie. We're going."
